httpwww.someantyx.coma

June 30, 2008

You can buy a small car or a year's worth of Gas for that! HA

After reading the specs I understand now why the canon 1ds/III is so appealing - $3k less, higher ISO, not entirely a smaller sensor size (36mm x 23.9mm?) vs 36.9mm x 36.9. Plus the 1ds/III has more megapixels if thats what people want.

I'm happy shooting film...

June 30, 2008

From the 645 Manual

*When the shutter release mode selector lever is set to "L" (power off), all the

settings aside from the selected mode are reset to the default values.

Not sure exactly what that means but hope it helps.

June 30, 2008

I read something about that in the 645AFD manual, I can't recall exactly what it was (bangs head against wall). I vaguely recall that turning power off will take the 645 out of ME mode, but you can just put it right back in to ME mode. I have the 645AFD manual in PDF format, its available on Mamiya's website too.

June 30, 2008

I would guestimate it has to do with which back, here's a P20+ for $9k, camera not included.

<a href=http://www.calumetphoto.com/item/PE71327/>Calumet Photo</a>

As for a package deal? Who knows, probably $15k would be a good guess.

June 30, 2008

After glancing at Exposure manager's site its seems that EM charges the usual $99 a year, they have a smaller account for $65 a year. Printroom has a free account with 300mb of space available. Its a bunch of trade offs really.

June 29, 2008

I use printroom and I've not heard of EM but I will be checking them out now that I know of them. However the problem as I see it isn't so much the sales channel. That's fairly straight forward. Selecting images, ordering prints, printing, and shipping is fairly straightforward and the hand off benefits for me are appreciated.

There's a saying that is starting to crop up around the internet that goes "If you build it they won't come" and it holds true for probably 80% of the websites on the internet. Driving people to your site to place those orders is the most difficult/complex and sites don't really help you there. One way might be a google ad popping up all over google to drive people to your site but can you afford it? I don't know the costs for something like that.

Printroom has a free account that doesn't cost anything until an order is placed then they charge quite a bit, I think its over 15%. As my sales are mostly sports and to parents of the sports players its easier to drive people to my printroom site and place an order. Exposure manager I don't know about but like I said I"ll look into it.

June 28, 2008

There is a site for pictures like that, its called http://icanhascheezburger.com/ - I'd make it a link but I'm lazy today. Its pics of cats being funny with childish sayings applied. Sometimes it can be very good.

I'll dig up a pic of my cat... This is his GQ pose!<div></div>

June 27, 2008

good to k now on spamalot - as far as strip shots, I like to do them too but the women can get expensive! HA HA HA

(j/k)

(get the kitten anyway!) ((as you can see I'm not helping))

June 26, 2008

I say get another cat still, forgiveness is easier to ask for than permission! Say its a present from the Human society! :)

The last time I went to Vegas was 7-8 years ago and nights were better than days. I can't stand the heat anywhere and Vegas would kill me. It was 91 here today and it was agonizing, anything over 87 sucks! Bear in mind that during the winter snows here I drive a jeep w/o doors. Cold I can stand, heat I can't.

However night time in Vegas - even though it is sort of touristy, can reveal some interesting things to shoot. Some of those hotels are incredible remakes of popular destinations. Another thing that isn't a cat, that I've wanted to get into, is light painting. Set your camera to bulb and 'paint' the subject with various colors of light. An interesting thing to try would be a pinhole shot of the strip too. Imagine f/64 or f/128 and higher for several minutes. Makes me want to visit Vegas (in the fall, plus I can see spamalot again, not a musical fan but spamalot is funny)

June 26, 2008

What's a light meter?

June 26, 2008

Buy a motorcycle or scooter, I did.

I know it isn't photography related but many get between 40 and 50 mpg and make the sting of high gas prices easier to bear. Scooters are even better at 60-70mpg. Don't forget the sunscreen at 110 I guess. At 70 miles per hour 110 probably feels closer to 90.

Or you could get another cat, one that isn't camera shy...

June 24, 2008

I think we should have a moment of swearing in memory of George!

June 22, 2008

One thing I picked up was a collection of graduated cups, at least 3 @ 500ml capacity. That way I can mix up my

developer, stop bath, and fixer before hand and just pour in to my tank. It makes it easier to regulate the

temperature too. As far as stop bath, I use ilford developers and most say they work better when a stop bath is

used, but water will work too. Get a changing bag as well to load your film in the tank. Film clips may be good

for 35mm, but the film clips I have have spikes on the end and for 120 and 4x5 it leaves dents or pokes through

the film. I picked up a box of big office style clips that are flat and can hold 120 or 4x5 film without

damaging the film. I use those big triangular clips, but get them in small sizes. Stainless vs plastic - I've

used both and I like the stainless steel. BUT the ratcheting plastic reels are easier to load for 120 for me at

least.

June 18, 2008

New Harley, used Mamiya!

Technically the Harley can be more expensive.

June 15, 2008

Chris - Good for you!

Reading the responses and how many people complained that film cost MORE than digital I created a little table in excel to compare the costs. Now a lot of this is subjective, things may cost more in one area than another, also the type/brand and requirements can throw the numbers off. However I think this 'ballparks' the cost quite effectively. (now to see if my html table skills work here!)

<th>Components</th>

<th>Digital</th>

<tr><td>Camera</td>

<tr><td>Lenses</td>

<tr><td>Extra gear (flash/lightmeter)</td>

<tr><td>Computer</td>

<tr><td>Software</td>

<td>$1500 - photoshop, corrupt card software, OS, upgrades, etc</td>

<tr><td>Monitor</td>

<tr><td>Printer</td>

<td>$600 + $500 / month</td>

<tr><td>Paper</td>

<td>$200 / month</td>

<td>$200 /month</td></tr>

<tr><td>Darkroom - Enlarger</td>

<tr><td>Accessories</td>

<tr><td>Timer</td>

<tr><td>Chemicals</td>

<td>$50 / month</td></tr>

<tr><td>Processing - DIY</td>

<td>$35 / 10 rolls</td></tr>

<tr><td>Processing - Lab</td>

<tr><td>CF Cards</td>

<tr><td>Total</td>

</table>

I took a few liberties here - first off with film I'm assuming no computer is needed, all work is done in the darkroom - that saves a bunch. I'm sure someone will spout off about $400 computers - whatever. I also didn't include a scanner, again because a computer isn't required. Of course a scanner and computer can be added - depending on the models that can add say $3500 for a nikon scanner and decent computer system with photoshop.

Printer - a good inkjet printer capable of handling 13x19 can go for $400 - $600 and each ink cartridge goes for about $60 - $120 - for 8 inks you're talking a good chunk of money. AND that's a consumable - you have to keep buying those. (hey sounds like film!) The nice thing about digital is that pretty much everyone here already has a computer, thats sort of guaranteed! :) But to upgrade or buy Photoshop, calibration software, etc - that stuff is expensive!

I sort of lumped the darkroom stuff into several generic categories - some people want trays, others complain, some want rotary systems, blah blah blah. A basic darkroom shouldn't cost much, and for $50 chemicals should last a while. Paper is a different consideration. Paper is a tough one, in the darkroom there are so many choices, inkjet - there isn't much choice - but the cost is probably similar until you get into HUGE sizes.

Film - I'm buying my MF film for about $5.00 a roll and again, the chemicals last a long time. 6 months? So for about $50 you can get all the chemicals, tank, etc to develop something like 16 - 20 rolls of film. Processing - seems to average about $10 a roll when sent to a lab.

CF cards - I'm guessing here that the average is 4 cards for about $50 each, people forget that CF cards have a limit to the number of times they can be written to. I think it was like 1000 - 2000 times? So those become consumable too eventually. Or the newest technology (8GB cards, 16GB cards) its a never ending stream of money.

This is by no means accurate - just off the top of my head with some baseline prices/guesses. I'm sure the amount of shooting will have an impact. Film is an ongoing cost that will rise over time, maybe not exponentially, but each month that number under film will increase until it catches the digital number. A reality is that by the time film reaches that $7,100 value, the digital shooter will be either A) upgrading to the latest/greatest, B) Buying a second camera, or C) sending his/her unit off for repair for another $500+ dollars. Another reality is that the film shooter will want a nice scanner (Ca-Ching!) and other toys to bring the numbers more equal.

Others with more experience than I can fine tune the amounts this is very rough, and there are ways to reduce this. The ultimate story is that digital has a very high up front cost. However its monthly costs are fairly low. Assuming you don't need a printer and print online, you can seriously reduce the cost of digital. Just doing this exercise has me convinced to NOT buy a large format printer for printing my shots. I want one, but the cost is outrageous, and I can't transfer that cost to my customers directly. With film I can, or its easier to.

This was an interesting and tedious exercise - I never want to enter another html table manually like this again! :)

Frankly, I think film and digital the cost will eventually be equal and that shall be the moral of this post.

June 12, 2008

I wouldn't burn the bridge on digital quite that much personally. I tried shooting film when I was your age and failed miserably. Digital helped me to learn. Now, as I move back to film and developing I'm enjoying it a lot. I still use digital, but I'd say equally with film. I'm also moving into large format as well as Medium format. I just sold my RB on ebay this week. I'm down to a Mamiya 645 and a Calumet 4x5 along with my digital gear.

Digital has its place and like I said above I wouldn't dump it entirely, look for a couple of deals for a 6x7 and possibly a large format 4x5 or 8x10. I realize at 17 its tough to afford, but ebay, craigslist, and other sources have some good deals. I bought my RB locally on Craigslist for $299 and sold it on ebay for $510. that paid for 1/2 of the 645.

I think its good that younger people like yourself are embracing film, but don't give up on digital entirely.

June 10, 2008

As I expand my knowledge and experience in photography I have run into a few models AND an occasional photographer that are worth steering clear of. There are a few 'photographers' out there that are willing to pay a girl simply to take her picture. It is effectively a strip show with a camera. I doubt the images are ever published to even a website much less a valid publication.

Yet there are women willing to do this too so it isn't just the GWC's (guy with camera). Matter of fact moments ago I just got an email from a girl responding to a TFP ad I posted on craigslist looking for 'college money'. I responded saying this was TFP and not a paying opportunity. The most I can do is to be professional 100% of the time both in the studio as well as through correspondence, before, during and after working with people.

It only takes one person to go a little too far and suddenly we all have a bad name.

June 9, 2008

If this helps, I just sold a Mamiya RB67 Pro-S on eBay. I knew how much I wanted for it and set a buy it now price at that level. I then set a starting price for much lower, $75 actually. There was enough interest in it that it exceeded my buy it now price by $60.

Know how much you are willing to take, your reserve price, what you want, your buy it now price, and a starting bid that is low enough to spark interest yet high enough to get close to your reserve. I don't recommend setting the reserve and buy it now prices the same, it defeats the purpose and just gives ebay more money.

Your Hassy may be better off in a real auction run by professionals as opposed to ebay however. pnet also might be a good place to place an ad for it first.

June 9, 2008

HA HA I like Bob's Answer!

I owned a sigma 17-40mm or close to that range and I did not like it very much. This was supposed to be their high end competitive to canon range and it was not very good.

That one experience has led me to buying strictly canon lenses as opposed to off-brand (sigma and others) lenses. Having a lens that's just a little off focus, there's nothing you can do in photoshop to fix that.

now that was one experience from one lens. Now I haven't scared any animals with my white lenses yet, but I have scared a few hockey players and hockey fans with them.

June 8, 2008

W.H. Jackson had the support of a Mule...

Oddly I get a lot of support and I'm not sure why, lots of artistic types in my family I guess. But I liked the 'tilting at windmills' and oddball bits here. Yes I am definitely the oddball of the family.

June 8, 2008

My first digital camera was a generation 1 p&s which I liked for the ability to take pictures but there were many limitations that have since been over come. That being said, There is nothing like using the right tool for the job. I picked up a friends p&s, switched it to manual and started clicking away the other day. But it was still quite limited. Aperture would only go up to f/8, ISO to 800 though they want to push 'auto-iso' on you. For me, being at the ice rink, there is no substitute for a 70-200 f/2.8 lens, or I can switch to my 300mm f/2.8 lens and get up close and personal. The tiny p&s cameras are nice and will do a lot, but digital zoom just doesn't do it for me. Nor Live view - I never liked it, it really shows how much I shake and wobble, plus for me its more difficult to frame an image. With all the latest dslr's coming with live view, if I do buy one, I'll turn it off immediately to conserve power, then I can still take 1000+ shots at a hockey game on a single battery. Neither point of view is right or wrong, just different.

Ultimately, each is a tool, and if thats what you need to be happy taking pictures, all the better. As for art, its all subjective any way. I recall one of the photographers for the SI swimsuit edition uses a p&s and if everyone is happy who's the wiser?

June 8, 2008

Bob's got some good points. I like the bee's but I built my own kit for many reasons and built it slowly. I bought an 800, 30x40 softbox, and the 13' stand. Buying one cost about $550 but is worth it I think. I added a second about 3 months later and the new wireless trigger system. Overall I'm thrilled, I just wish I could add a hair light or 3rd light now for hair/backdrop washout.

That's probably the key, think about growing a system over time. With the background bee package you can use that as a hair light or background light later as you add more lights. Just be sure to get all of your lights the same size, ie 800's.

June 6, 2008

I'd say keep borrowing dad's AE-1. Film isn't as forgiving as digital and therefore an excellent teaching tool. Don't think that film is dead either, Like you my background is mostly digital but lately I have been picking up and using film and enjoying it. It can be challenging and rewarding in ways the Digital cannot. Now 35mm film probably not as rewarding as Medium Format film or Large Format film.

Each is a tool and used in the right manner can achieve spectacular results. Personally I think black and white with film still exceeds black and white in the digital world. That's my personal opinion and after delving into medium format film I'm glad I did. Lots of people will tell me I'm wrong which is ok, first this is art so its subjective there is no right or wrong. Secondly, you can show me the math, you can show me the technology that illustrates where digital outperforms film and by the numbers it does. But film has intangible qualities that digital lacks, which is ironic when you think about it, it should be the other way around! HA!

Learn first, then decide to toss the film camera for digital. Film is teaching me patience that digital cannot. Film is teaching me about budgeting because a piece of 4"x5" film costs $5 or more overall. Digital tends to lean to a rapid fire, quantity vs quality approach, shoot 10 shots, keep 1. I don't agree with that philosophy. Shoot 1 shot, keep 1 shot. I'm learning to be more prepared for the moment, right settings, right exposure, good composition, look at the scene, frame the scene in your mind, see the scene as over or under exposed in your mind. Digital doesn't really promote discipline like that, digital promotes trial and error, which is good too. But if you're at the Olympic games, its too late for trial and error. A diver isn't going to dive 5 times so you can get the shot just right. And photoshop is becoming a crutch for people that don't expose right or compose right. Photoshop is far too powerful to be used as just a crutch and fix mistakes that could have been done right 'in-camera' the first time.

Good luck and welcome!

C

June 5, 2008

WOW!

Bob knows all about Ferrari's too! :)

(ducking for cover)

You're on the other side of the rockies to me!

June 5, 2008

first off, that looks like it isn't far from MY Front door, maybe 20 miles? Where is that roughly?

After reading all of the responses I think everyone has provided some good direction and I agree with them. I think Paul Thomas has the right of it though and its something I'm learning myself. I've been shooting digital for close to 7 years now and I rarely see 'wow' other than the subject. I caught a hockey player jumping over the goalie once, that was wow. But there were faults with it too.

As I begin to try out Medium format and Large format cameras, all I can afford are prime lenses, and the results do give me that 'wow' even if the composition is off a bit. My Mamiya has only an 80mm lens and I get sharper images from that than my dSLR with zoom lenses. Its enough to push me towards prime lenses for my digital gear and the 85mm is one I definitely want. If at all possible rent or borrow a prime lens and see if that helps your images 'pop' or 'wow' at all.

Just a suggestion and good luck!

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